Date: 1978, 1979

"The discipline tying mind in that way to the meditative object is expressed by the simile of training an elephant, for example, a wild elephant is tied with many massive cords to a trunk or a post."

— Wayman, Alex

Date: 1978, 1979

"The mind is like the untrained elephant. When it is bound with the cord of mindfulness to the firm post of the previously discussed meditative object, [even] if it is unwilling to remain there, it is gradually brought under control, goaded by the hook of awareness."

— Wayman, Alex

Date: 1981

"What's my head but a rat's nest / of dubious texts?"

— Harwood, Gwen (1920-1995)

Date: 1983

Die Dogmatiker sind sonderbare Hyänen. Sie nähren sich vom Aas der Gedanken, die sie selbst getötet haben. [The dogmatists are strange hyenas They feed on the carrion of the thoughts that they themselves killed].

— Laub, Gabriel (1928-1998)

Date: 1984

"Each time the image of Deane's shattered head struck the rear wall of the office, Case was aware of another thought, something darker, hidden, that rolled away, diving like a fish, just beyond his reach."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)

Date: 1984

"Wintermute was hive mind, decision maker, effecting change in the world outside."

— Gibson, William (b. 1948)

Date: 1986

"But it was only the heart's / racketing flywheel stuttering I want, I want // until exhaustion, until I was a guest in the yoke / of my body by the last margin of land where the river // mingles with the sea & far off daylight whitens, / a rending & yielding I must kneel before, as // bar...

— Hull, Lynda (1954-1994)

Date: 1988

"Mind in its purest play is like some bat / That beats about in caverns all alone, / Contriving by a kind of senseless wit / Not to conclude against a wall of stone."

— Wilbur, Richard (1921- )

Date: 1988

"The mind is like a bat."

— Wilbur, Richard (1921- )

Date: 1989

"When the cat hears the doorbell, this must be something going on, literally, in its head, not just in its furry little mind."

— Nagel, Thomas (b. 1937)